Regulation of SPRY3 by X chromosome and PAR2-linked promoters in an autism susceptibility region
HUMAN MOLECULAR GENETICS
Authors: Ning, Zhenfei; McLellan, Andrew S.; Ball, Melanie; Wynne, Freda; O'Neill, Cora; Mills, Walter; Quinn, John P.; Kleinjan, Dirk A.; Anney, Richard J.; Carmody, Ruaidhre J.; O'Keeffe, Gerard; Moore, Tom
Abstract
Sprouty proteins are regulators of cell growth and branching morphogenesis. Unlike mouse Spry3, which is X-linked, human SPRY3 maps to the pseudoautosomal region 2; however, the human Y-linked allele is not expressed due to epigenetic silencing by an unknown mechanism. SPRY3 maps adjacent to X-linked Trimethyllysine hydroxylase epsilon (TMLHE), recently identified as an autism susceptibility gene. We report that Spry3 is highly expressed in central and peripheral nervous system ganglion cells in mouse and human, including cerebellar Purkinje cells and retinal ganglion cells. Transient over-expression or knockdown of Spry3 in cultured mouse superior cervical ganglion cells inhibits and promotes, respectively, neurite growth and branching. A 0.7 kb gene fragment spanning the human SPRY3 transcriptional start site recapitulates the endogenous Spry3-expression pattern in LacZ reporter mice. In the human and mouse the SPRY3 promoter contains an AG-rich repeat andwe found co-expression, and promoter binding and/or regulation of SPRY3 expression by transcription factors MAZ, EGR1, ZNF263 and PAX6. We identified eight alleles of the human SPRY3 promoter repeat in Caucasians, and similar allele frequencies in autism families. We characterized multiple SPRY3 transcripts originating at two CpG islands in the X-linked F8A3-TMLHE region, suggesting X chromosome regulation of SPRY3. These findings provide an explanation for differential regulation of X and Y-linked SPRY3 alleles. In addition, the presence of a SPRY3 transcript exon in a previously described X chromosome deletion associated with autism, and the cerebellar interlobular variation in Spry3 expression coincident with the reported pattern of Purkinje cell loss in autism, suggest SPRY3 as a candidate susceptibility locus for autism.
Disorders of carnitine biosynthesis and transport
MOLECULAR GENETICS AND METABOLISM
Authors: El-Hattab, Ayman W.; Scaglia, Fernando
Abstract
Carnitine is a hydrophilic quaternary amine that plays a number of essential roles in metabolism with the main function being the transport of long-chain fatty acids from the cytosol to the mitochondrial matrix for beta-oxidation. Camitine can be endogenously synthesized. However, only a small fraction of camitine is obtained endogenously while the majority is obtained from diet, mainly animal products. Carnitine is not metabolized and is excreted in urine. Carnitine homeostasis is regulated by efficient renal reabsorption that maintains camitine levels within the normal range despite variabilities in dietary intake. Diseases occurring due to primary defects in camitine metabolism and homeostasis are comprised in two groups: disorders of carnitine biosynthesis and carnitine transport defect. While the hallmark of carnitine transport defect is profound carnitine depletion, disorders of carnitine biosynthesis do not cause carnitine deficiency due to the fact that both carnitine obtained from diet and efficient renal camitine reabsorption can maintain normal carnitine levels with the absence of endogenously synthesized carnitine. Camitine transport defect phenotype encompasses a broad clinical spectrum including metabolic decompensation in infancy, cardiomyopathy in childhood, fatigability in adulthood, or absence of symptoms. The phenotypes associated with the camitine transport defect result from the unavailability of enough carnitine to perform its functions particularly in fatty acid beta-oxidation. Camitine biosynthetic defects have been recently described and the phenotypic consequences of these defects are still emerging. Although these defects do not result in camitine deficiency, they still could be associated with pathological phenotypes due to excess or deficiency of intermediate metabolites in the carnitine biosynthetic pathway and potential carnitine deficiency in early stages of life when brain and other organs develop. In addition to these two groups of primary carnitine defects, several metabolic diseases and medical conditions can result in excessive carnitine loss leading to a secondary camitine deficiency. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.